The Internet, also known as the World Wide Web (“Web”), is a global computer network. The Web has become a marketplace for many companies to sell products or services. It also provides a means by which schools and government organizations can post information on a web site to make it available to the general public. The web applications that provide this functionality are generally implemented utilizing the client/server architecture. The client component of the application is typically optimized for user interaction, and the server component provides a centralized means for multiple users to access the functionality of the web application.
A Web Browser is software that operates on a client computer. It provides the functionality that a user would require to locate and access information on remote computers that function as Web servers. Web browser software acts as the client component, providing a user interface to the internet (or intranet). Utilizing TCP/IP protocols, the browser sends requests to remote web servers for web pages to be viewed and interacted with on the client computer. Examples of web browsers are Netscape, Mozilla, Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Mosaic.
A Web Site is a file (or a set of files) containing information, located on a web server, connected to the web. The file(s) that comprise a web site can contain web pages, which may include text, photographs, illustrations, video, music, or computer programs. The content of web pages is normally written in EXtensible HyperText Markup Language (XHTML), which are documents containing two parts: (1) content and (2) markup tags. Content is the part of the document meant to be rendered on a computer screen. Markup (or tags) is encoded information that affects the formatting and display of text and images on the screen. The web page is typically rendered in compliance with the W3C Document Object Model (DOM), which is a platform and language-neutral interface that allows programs and scripts to dynamically access and update the content, structure, and style of a document. Every XHTML element is arranged in a hierarchy within the DOM, with the “DOCUMENT” element being the top node within the hierarchy.
Web sites can contain static or dynamic web pages. With static web pages, the content is fixed and cannot change. When web navigation provides an interactive experience, it is called dynamic. With dynamic web pages, the content and design is usually segregated. The content is typically stored within a database that is placed on a web page only when necessary, as the dynamic aspect of the web page would typically adjust and react to the data rendered to the web page, depending upon the form and content of the data being accessed. The primary benefit of this software facility is that it simplifies and systematizes the development of dynamic applications in the course of implementing the functionality defined within the specifications for the application being developed.
Interactivity on web pages can be created using client-side scripting or server-side scripting. Client-side scripting, such as Javascript, or DHTML, can be used to change behavior within a webpage on the client computer. Server-side scripting, such as ASP.NET, Java, PHP, Perl, or ColdFusion, is used to change the supplied page source between pages. With client-side scripting, the content (and sometimes the structure of the DOM hierarchy) is manipulated on the client's computer. The web browser retrieves a page from the server, then processes the code embedded within the retrieved web page, which affects the manner in which the content is presented to the user. With server-side scripting, the client computer sends a web page request to the server utilizing the web browser. When the server receives a request, the server processes the server-side script based upon the request from the client computer, and sends the processed page back to the web browser for display and user input. Client-side scripting and server-side scripting can be used simultaneously to create dynamic web pages.
Web controls are the objects that are rendered, by the server, into XHTML software elements that are, in turn, rendered onto the webpage by the web browser. These are the basic elements that can be utilized as the interface points between the client and the server, for the particular data elements being accessed and modified (if necessary).
In the prior art, there are several conventional server scripting tools used to generate dynamic web pages. However, the present invention provides a novel method and system to facilitate the generation and manipulation of dynamic web control structures and sub-structures, and integrate them into dynamic web pages.